Major cities of Haryana: part-8

8)FARIDABAD:

Faridabad was founded in A.D. 1607 by Shaikh Farid, treasurer of Jahangir, with the object of protecting the highway which passed through the town. Shaikh Farid built a fort, a tank and a mosque which are in runins. Later, it becomes the headquaters of a pargana which was held in jagir by the Ballabgarh ruler. The District Faridabad came on the map of Haryana on 15th August, 1979 as the 12th District of the state. The new District was carved out from erstwhile Gurgoan District. Faridabad is about 25 Kilometers from Delhi in 28o 25' 16" North Latitude and 77o 18' 28" East Longitude. It is bounded by Union Territory of Delhi (National Capital) on its north, Palwal District in the south, Gurgaon District on the west and State of Utter Pradesh on its east. The river Yamuna separate the District Boundary on eastern side with UP State. Delhi-Agra National Highway No.2 (Shershah Suri Marg) passes through centre of District. There are three railway stations (viz. Faridabad Main, New Town and Ballabgarh) on the Delhi-Mathura triple track broad-gauge line of the Indian Railway.
LOCATION & BOUNDRIES
Faridabad is about 25 Kilometers from Delhi in 28o 25' 16" North Latitude and 77o 18' 28" East Longitude. It is bounded by Union Territory of Delhi (National Capital) on its north, Palwal District in the south, Gurgaon District on the west and State of Utter Pradesh on its east. The river Yamuna separate the District Boundary on eastern side with UP State. Delhi-Agra National Highway No.2 (Shershah Suri Marg) passes through centre of District.
AREA & POPULATION
The district having an approximate area of 742.90 Sq.Km. accommodates a population of 17,98,954 (2011 Population census figures) 7.10% of the state population. Almost 80% population of the District is urbanized. The district has almost flat plains. The river Yamuna flows on its entire eastern boundary. Its sex ratio according to 2011 population census is 871 against 877 in the state while literacy rate is 83.0 against 76.64 in the state. It is the most densely populated district in the state.
ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE
Faridabad comes under the Faridabad Division of Haryana. Haryana is divided in Six Divisions. Each Division is headed by Divisional commissioner. The Deputy Commissioner is the administrative head of District. The Faridabad is divided into three Sub Divisions and each Sub Division is headed by Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM). The district has 116 Gram Panchayats, 2 Block/Panchayat Samitis and a Zila Parishad located in 2 Community Development Blocks. It has 192 revenue villages located in 3 tehsils and 5 sub tehsils. It has one Parliamentary seat (10-Faridabad)  and six state legislative assembly seats (85-Prithla, 86-Faridabad NIT, 87-Badkhal, 88-Ballabgarh, 89-Faridabad and 90-Tigaon).
INFRASTRUCTURE
Faridabad has well connected network of road and Electricity. All the villages of the District are connected by metalled roads as well as all villages having electricity since 1970. Faridabad is well connected with other parts of the country by Rail and Road. The broad gauge railway line of Northern Railways passes through the District and most of the trains going to South and West of India passes through the District. Also Delhi-Mathura-Agra road NH-2 passes through the middle of the District and Faridabad, & Ballabgarh are the mains towns of the District on the National Highway. District has six telephone exchanges and about 126 post offices.
INDUSTRY
There are now about 15,000 small, medium and large industries in this complex providing direct and indirect employment to nearly half a million people and ranks 9th largest industrial estate in Asia. The combined turnover is estimated to be about Rs. 1500 billion. Many international/ multinational companies like JCB, Yamaha Motors, Whirlpool, Goodyear, Larsen & Toubro, Asia Brown Boveri, GKN Invel, Woodward Governor, Castrol besides Escorts, Eicher, Cutler Hammer, Hyderabad Asbestos, Nuchem are operating in this belt.